Memo

TITLE OF BILL: An act to authorize the New York city employees' retirement system to consider the application for disability retirement benefits from Peter DiMario

PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To allow Peter DiMario to apply to disability benefits from the New York City Employees' Retirement System.

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill requires the New York City Employees' Retirement to accept the application for disability retirement benefits of Peter DiMario as if filed in a timely manner.

Section 2 of the bill states that all costs associated with the implementation of this act shall be borne by the State.

Section 3 is the immediate effective date.

JUSTIFICATION:

The company where Peter DiMario worked from June of 1984 to December of 2010, closed in December of 2010. Mr. DiMario filed for disability retirement benefits in October of 2011 not realizing that his application should have been filed by March 7, 2011. As a result New York City Employees' Retirement System denied Mr. DiMario's application. He, however, believed that he had one year from the closure date to file his application.

This bill will require the New York City Employees' Retirement System to accept Mr.DiMario's application for disability retirement benefits as if filed in a timely manner.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New Bill - 2012

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

See fiscal note.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

This act shall take effect immediately.

Text

STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4888--A
2013-2014 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
April 30, 2013
___________

Introduced by Sen. STEWART-COUSINS -- read twice and ordered printed,
and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and
Pensions -- recommitted to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill
amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
tee
AN ACT to authorize the New York city employees' retirement system to
consider the application for disability retirement benefits from Peter
DiMario
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the application
for disability retirement benefits of Peter DiMario, who was employed by
the New York city off-track betting corporation from June 1984 until
December 2010 when such corporation closed, and is a member of the New
York city employees' retirement system, which for reasons not ascribable
to his own negligence has been denied a disability retirement from the
New York city employees' retirement system, shall be accepted for
consideration by the New York city employees' retirement system as if
such application had been filed in a timely manner on March 7, 2011.
S 2. All costs associated with the implementation of this act shall be
borne by the state.
S 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--PROVISIONS OF PROPOSED LEGISLATION: The proposed legis-
lation would authorize the New York City Employees' Retirement System
("NYCERS") to accept for consideration an application for Disability
Retirement benefits from Peter DiMario.
BACKGROUND: Mr. DiMario became a Tier IV member of NYCERS on June 18,
1984 and is covered under the provisions of Retirement and Social Secu-
rity Law ("RSSL") Article 15.

EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01789-03-4

S. 4888--A 2
RSSL Article 15, Section 605 provides that an application for Disabil-
ity Retirement must be filed either:
(a) By a vested member incapacitated as the result of a qualifying
World Trade Center condition as defined in RSSL Section 2, at any time,
or
(b) Within three months from the last date the member was being paid
on the payroll or,
(c) In the case of a member who was placed on a leave of absence for
medical reasons without pay, either voluntarily or involuntarily, at the
time he/she ceased being paid, not later than twelve months after the
date the employee receives notice that his/her employment status has
been terminated.
In the case of Mr. DiMario, under current law, he would have had to
file pursuant to the preceding basis (b) (i.e., within three months of
his last day of pay). His last day of pay was December 7, 2010.
However, Mr. DiMario filed for Disability Retirement on October 25,
2011, more than three months after his last day of pay. Since his appli-
cation was not timely filed, NYCERS informed Mr. DiMario that it could
not be processed.
The proposed legislation, if enacted, would authorize NYCERS to accept
for consideration his application for Disability Retirement as if it had
been filed in a timely manner on March 7, 2011.
All costs associated with the implementation of this proposed legis-
lation would be borne by New York State.
The Effective Date of the proposed legislation would be the Date of
Enactment.
FINANCIAL IMPACT - ACTUARIAL PRESENT VALUES: The estimated financial
impact has been calculated based on the difference between (1) the bene-
fits Mr. DiMario would receive if this proposed legislation were enacted
and his application for Disability Retirement were approved and (2) the
benefits Mr. DiMario would otherwise be entitled to receive.
The difference in estimated costs is intended to provide a sense of
the ultimate financial impact.
The difference in first year employer contributions reflects both the
difference in costs and the impact of the actuarial valuation assump-
tions initially in use.
Based on the actuarial assumptions and methods described herein, on an
estimated cost basis, the enactment of this proposed legislation would
increase the Actuarial Present Value of Benefits ("APVB") and the
Unfunded Actuarial Accrued Liability ("UAAL") of NYCERS by approximately
$245,000 as of June 30, 2013.
On an actuarial valuation basis Mr. DiMario is currently considered to
be entitled to a Vested Benefit and assumed to have a life expectancy
similar to a Service (rather than Disability) retiree. If Mr. DiMario
were treated as a Disability Retiree with life expectancy of a Disabili-
ty Retiree (assuming he were approved), the APVB and UAAL of NYCERS
would increase by approximately $215,000 as of June 30, 2013.
FINANCIAL IMPACT - ANNUAL EMPLOYER COSTS AND ANNUAL EMPLOYER CONTRIB-
UTIONS: In accordance with Section 13.638.2(k-2) of the Administrative
Code of the City of New York ("ACNY"), new UAAL attributable to benefit
changes are to be amortized as determined by the Actuary but generally
over the remaining working lifetime of those impacted by the benefit
changes.
For this proposed legislation, Mr. DiMario is inactive and therefore
the entire increase in UAAL based on the Actuary's actuarial assumptions

S. 4888--A 3
and methods in effect on June 30, 2013 of $245,000 (on an estimated cost
basis) should be recognized in the first year.
Similarly, as of June 30, 2013, based on the actuarial valuation
assumptions and methods then in effect, the proposed legislation would
increase the first year's employer contributions by approximately
$215,000.
CONTRIBUTION TIMING: If enacted during the 2014 Legislative Session
and if his application for Disability Retirement were approved on or
before June 30, 2014, his status as a Disability Retiree would likely
first be reflected in the June 30, 2014 census data. In accordance with
the One-Year Lag methodology used to determine employer contributions,
increased employer contributions would be consistent with the increased
employer costs and would be determined for Fiscal Year 2016.
If enacted during the 2014 Legislative Session, and if his application
for Disability Retirement were approved after June 30, 2014 but on or
before June 30, 2015, his status as a Disability Retiree would likely
first be reflected in the June 30, 2015 census data and increased
employer contributions would be determined for Fiscal Year 2017.
ACTUARIAL ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The additional APVB and UAAL for
employer contribution purposes presented herein have been calculated by
comparing the APVB of a Vested Benefit as determined for actuarial valu-
ation purposes (i.e., using a Service Retirement mortality table) with
the APVB of a Disability Retirement benefit as determined for actuarial
valuation purposes (i.e., using a Disability Retirement mortality
table).
The additional APVB for employer cost purposes (i.e., additional APV
of future employer costs and additional annual employer costs) reflect
an assumption that Mr. DiMario's life expectancy is more consistent with
a Disability Retirement mortality table.
For purposes of determining the APVB of a Disability Retirement bene-
fit, we have assumed that Mr. DiMario would elect to have his benefit
paid in the form of a 100% joint & survivor benefit which is the option
he elected on his Disability Retirement application.
In addition to the actuarial assumptions described above, all results
presented herein have been calculated based on the actuarial assumptions
and methods in effect for the June 30, 2013 (Lag) actuarial valuations
used to determine Fiscal Year 2015 employer contributions of NYCERS.
ECONOMIC VALUES OF BENEFITS: The actuarial assumptions used to deter-
mine the financial impact of the proposed legislation discussed in this
Fiscal Note are those appropriate for budgetary models and determining
annual employer contributions to NYCERS.
However, the economic assumptions (current and proposed) that are used
for determining employer contributions do not develop risk-adjusted,
economic values of benefits. Such risk-adjusted, economic values of
benefits would likely differ significantly from those developed by the
budgetary models.
STATEMENT OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: I, Robert C. North, Jr., am the Chief
Actuary for the New York City Retirement Systems. I am a Fellow of the
Society of Actuaries and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries.
I meet the Qualification Standards of the American Academy of Actuaries
to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
FISCAL NOTE IDENTIFICATION: This estimate is intended for use only
during the 2014 Legislative Session. It is Fiscal Note 2014-05, dated
February 4, 2014 prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City
Employees' Retirement System.

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